When two kinds of evil combine
by Psarotje
Summary: Loki combines forces with Moriarty, causing Sherlock to be recruited for the Avengers. Shenanigans ensue.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

'I'm here to talk to you about the avengers initiative.'  
Sherlock stretched his legs out on the arms of his couch. 'No.'  
Nick Fury didn't move. 'Sir, I would like it if you'd let me finish.'  
'I don't usually let people. I don't see why I should start now.'  
'I'm in the government.'  
Sherlock took his legs down from the armrest and smiled quickly. 'My brother _is_ the government. I'm sure you're familiar with Mycroft?'  
'I've heard of him, but that's not my government. I work for the American secret service.'  
Sherlock stood up and walked up to the man. He observed him. 'I know. I mean, an idiot could hear it from your accent, but-'  
'Mister Holmes, I assure you, you would never be bored.' Fury knew that one was only for emergencies, but the was starting to get annoyed with this man very fast. Rumour said that he wasn't the only one.  
Sherlock stared at him icily. It took way too long before he broke the silence. 'Fine. Tell me. But don't bore me.'  
Fury had won right there. 'Years ago we, meaning us from the American secret service, had the idea to compose a team of remarkable people, to help people when they were in danger. And you sir, are quite remarkable, a reliable source told me.'  
'Who?'  
'I believe I heard it from your Queen.'  
Sherlock smiled slightly. 'Ah yes, that was a particularly interesting case. But you've managed it with your team so far, so what's changed now? Has the villain suddenly gotten smart? Can't your team of people handle it?' He didn't give Fury time to answer. 'No, that's not quite it, is it? The villain wouldn't suddenly change his style that much. So he's working together with someone else. But I'm sure there's plenty of clever people in America, so you had a special reason to come to me-Oh!' He grinned. 'Oh, yes. Very good. You knew that I'd accept that one, didn't you?'  
Fury didn't give anything away. 'Sir, I'd like to be sure that you think what I hope you're thinking.'  
'I'm thinking Moriarty.'  
'Oh, you _are_ good.'


	2. Chapter 1

_There, I updated. WOOHOO._  
_A new chapter, in which: Moriarty and Loki dance to Bad by Michael Jackson (okay no, wouldn't it be cool if they did, though?) and Sherlock is slapped in the face._

* * *

'Look hon, you're going to need a bit more than that glowstick to get world domination.'  
The Norse God turned around, looking very annoyed. 'You doubt the power of the tessaract?'  
Moriarty sighed. 'No, no, don't be like that.'  
'You do, though.'  
He shrugged, smiling. 'Yeah, okay, I do.'  
Loki walked up to him, holding his staff high. Moriarty's face got a blue glow. Loki smiled slightly when he backed up. 'But you do fear it.'  
'I just think that with a few of my methods we could be unstoppable. Look, I know you're a God and everything, and that's great, but honestly, you're a bit old-fashioned.'  
Loki opened his mouth to protest, but Moriarty beat him to it.  
'You must have noticed something, I mean, really. We don't ride horses nowadays. Everything can be done in an easier way than you imagine.' He took a step forward. 'And though I love your aggressive way of telling everyone to shut up and kneel, it doesn't do much harm to be charismatic and invade the enemy lines once in a while.'  
'Look, mortal, you're trying my patience. What is it that you suggest? Because all you have done so far is criticise my methods.'  
'Isn't it obvious? I say we work together. Don't you want the world?'  
Loki hesitated.  
Moriarty smiled. 'Please don't even try to say that you don't.'  
'Fine, yes, I want the world.'  
'Well I can give it to you.'

Sherlock walked in the hallways of the aircraft, guided by Fury. 'Shall I introduce you to the rest?'  
'You said I wouldn't be bored.'  
'I guess that's a no then, sir?'  
'You guess correct.'  
He sighed. 'And furthermore, you lied.'  
'Sorry?'  
Sherlock stopped walking and turned toward Fury. 'I am bored.'  
Fury looked uncomfortable and tried to start walking again. 'I assure you-'  
'BORED!'  
'Please sir, I-'  
'Bored, bored, BOOORED!'  
People gathered around them were starting to give them strange looks. Who was this man and who did he think he was, shouting in the hallways of an aircraft with high security?  
Fury started to get a bit desperate. 'Look, I'm sure you won't be bored when we get to the place where you can do your work. Just give me some time.'  
'Bored.'  
A man started walking towards him. Fury held out his hand to the stranger. 'I'm fine, really.'  
He was ignored.  
The man walked up to Sherlock and slapped him in his face.  
Sherlock stopped shouting to give him an annoyed look. 'Was that absolutely necessary?'  
The man shrugged. 'You looked like you needed to be brought down to earth for a bit.' He held out his hand. 'Tony Stark, of Stark enterprises.'  
Sherlock shook his hand. 'Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective.'  
Tony laughed. 'Really? So I suppose you don't know on what weird vehicle we are in right now?'  
Sherlock shrugged. 'It's a helicarrier. A ship that can fly when needed. I don't see why I shouldn't know, it's obvious.'  
'Not in the wrong century after all, eh? But seriously, Sherlock Holmes? Why would you need a different name, we're at the secret services, we don't gossip.' He laughed. 'Well we do, but-'  
'Bored.' Sherlock turned toward Fury. 'Can we go?'  
Fury sighed and gestured at the hallway that stretched out to the right of them. 'Be my guest.'  
Tony grinned. 'It's funny because you are.'  
'_Ha-ha_. Yes. Incredibly funny.' He turned right and walked out of their sight.  
Tony raised an eyebrow. 'What's up with him?'  
Fury sighed. 'He's pretty much always like this.'


	3. Chapter 2

_A small chapter because I've been really busy with school and nanowrimo (I tried to do it in august. It didn't really work out) but to thank you for the kind comments and people that started following, I just generally wanted to give you something._

_Edit: John because Raychaell Dionzeros wanted John. If anyone else wants something, by all means say so because I still have no idea what Loki and Moriarty's plan is._

* * *

_Sherlock, where are you?_

_You can't keep doing this_

_I worry, okay? There's a lot of people that want you dead._

_You can't just expect me to know_

_I'm not you, remember_

_Please._

* * *

John Watson threw his phone across the room. It was no use. Once Sherlock got going, there was no stopping him- certainly not for ridiculous things like a text message, or his best friend. He was Sherlock Holmes and he didn't need anyone. John sighed. He hated it when Sherlock did this to him.  
He got up from his chair to make a cup of tea, but halfway to the kitchen of his apartment, he had a better idea. He walked up to the front door and called down. 'Mrs Hudson?' Mrs Hudson -who had been cleaning the hallway, even though she was not their housekeeper- looked up from her work. 'Yes dear?'  
'Have you seen Sherlock this morning? I woke up and he was gone.'  
Mrs Hudson wiped her hands on her skirt. 'I don't think so. There was a man for him at the door, but I didn't see him leave.' She paused. 'Come to think of it, that was probably because I was next door.'  
She saw the worried look on his face and gave him a reassuring smile. 'He's Sherlock, remember? He'll be fine, he always is, in the end.' John sighed. 'Yes, he's Sherlock, and that's sort of what I'm worried about.'  
'Would you like me to make you a cup of tea while you wait? Only this once, mind, I'm not your h-'  
'Yes, that would be lovely.'  
Mrs Hudson left for the kitchen, but John didn't return to his chair. As long as Sherlock was alive, he wasn't going to waste any more time. It ought to be easy, he told himself. If Sherlock could do it, so could he.  
He got to his knees and searched the carpet for traces of the mysterious visitor. It took a few minutes before he found what he was looking for. Small dents in the carpet. Footsteps. He traced them and yes, they led upstairs. In the living room they had remained in front of the sofa for a while. Probably talking to Sherlock. And that was it. They just disappeared.  
John sat down on the sofa. That wasn't possible. You couldn't just disappear. There wasn't even any sign of a struggle. He let his head fall into his hands. He had to know if Sherlock was okay, it just wasn't fair that Sherlock never seemed to realise that people cared about him.

He got distracted by his phone buzzing.  
_Look out of the window –SH_

John frowned. Okay then. That seemed clear enough. He walked up to the window and smiled. A helicopter was flying up to the apartment. John opened the window. Sherlock never ceased to amaze him.

_Did you think I could do anything without my blogger? -SH_


	4. Chapter 3

_A longer chapter with deductions and multiple avengers, hooray!_

* * *

'So what do you think, is he lying?'

Tony and Bruce stared at Sherlock from across the lab.  
Bruce shrugged. 'He seemed to be very convinced of himself. And what does it matter if he is? If he doesn't want to tell us who he is, then that's fine.' Tony laughed. 'No, my friend, I don't think you understand. This is a secret organisation. There is no space for liars here.'  
'Well apparently there is, because Fury let him in.' Bruce turned back to the control panel he had been working with. 'And that's all I'm going to say about it.' Tony crossed his arms, and looked an awful lot like a five-year-old that hadn't got what he wanted. 'Fine, be boring. I'll go and talk to him on my own.'  
He walked up to Sherlock. 'So, mister Holmes,- if that is your real na-'  
'Shut up.' Sherlock turned a few of the wheels on his microscope- which wasn't as nice as the one he had at home, he'd made that _very_ clear- and paid no attention to Tony. This got Tony ever more annoyed. 'Look, I-' 'I said shut up, can't you hear?' Tony sighed. 'I just wanted to ask if you've found out where the bad guys are staying.'  
Sherlock finally managed to tear himself away from his work. 'Almost. It would go a lot quicker if you didn't keep bothering me, but apparently that's not going to happen, so I'm adapting.'  
'I'm just saying, if you were really Sherlock Holmes, you'd have found out within the first hour.'  
Sherlock got up from his chair and got so close to Tony he could feel his breath. Uncomfortably, Tony took a step back.  
'Look, I don't know why you think I'm not telling you who I am,' Sherlock snapped. 'But because you clearly don't trust me, I will show you.' His eyes quickly scanned across Tony's body.  
'I know that you're a playboy, but recently settling down. You're a rich genius, both of those traits inherited from your father, as well as a ridiculous amount of beach houses all over the world, where you take girls. You're bored a lot, at least we have that in common, but apart from that you're a pompous idiot, spending your money on anything that it can buy.' He took a step closer and tapped on the device that seemed to come out of Tony's chest. 'Those were the boring facts, now, this is interesting. New technology, yes? But why do its cables go into your body? Does it power you like a machine? If so, then it should easily be able to power some great weapons, but for some reason you're not using it for that, even though you have been in the weapons industry for long. So you're using your knowledge for fighting crime, instead of creating more of it. My compliments to mister Banner –who is clearly listening in- for keeping this man on the right path, because at least you seem to have some influence on him.'  
Bruce blushed and tried to continue looking busy with his work, but failed miserably. He dropped a test tube on the ground, cursed and could just keep himself from slipping on the glass shards.  
Tony laughed. 'You okay there, Bruce?'  
Somewhere from behind the desk Bruce's voice bounced back. 'Yeah, I'm fine, just continue annoying each other until I have to break up a fight.'

They ignored the last part and continued to annoy each other.

Bruce sighed. He was not cleaning up their mess when they were done. Anyway, he was starting to root for this Sherlock guy.  
He was following the discussion with great interest until the doors to the lab opened. Fury came in first. 'I'm not paying you to fight, you know.'  
Tony looked up. 'You're not paying us at all.'  
'And by the looks of it that's going to stay this way.' He stepped aside. 'Mister Holmes, I believe you asked for us to bring you a few things.'  
Sherlock nodded. 'Hello John, how good of you to come and higher the IQ in this room for us.' This earned him a shove of Tony.  
John walked into the room, and looked around in amazement. 'This is brilliant. Sherlock, it's a flying ship!'  
Tony's face brightened up. 'Yes! Finally someone who behaves as I expected them to. John Watson. Sure.'  
John looked questioningly at the people in the room, got a shrug from Fury, an eye roll from Tony, no reaction at all from Sherlock –but he was kind of used to that by now- and a reassuring smile from Bruce. 'No? Nobody's going to explain that to me?'  
Sherlock was about to make a sneering comment when the doors opened again, and the rest of the Avengers came in, so instead he just sighed. 'It's getting rather crowded here. I thought we were catching murderers, but if we're going to be boring again-'  
'Don't you make me slap you again, Holmes, because I swear, I will do it.'  
Clint smiled. 'Ah yeah, Nat and I heard something about that. Not sure whether to feel sorry for him or generally feel awesome for him. It sounded like you deserved it though, no offence meant.'  
'I don't care.'  
'Are you sure? Because I'm not about to be the bully to the new guy here.'  
John laid his hand on Clint's arm. 'He really doesn't.'  
'Oh, that's fine then.'  
'Have you found my brother and the mortal yet?'  
Tony shrugged. 'He's not actually your brother, you know. And you should really think of a better place to put him, because I'm not about to capture this guy for the rest of the week, I have more to do.'  
Thor ignored him. 'But have you?'  
'If everyone would finally shut up, we would have,' Sherlock sneered. 'But no, this place is more of a café full of lunatics then it is a secret agency, for gods sake.'  
Thor brightened up. 'What god, maybe I know him?'

'Living proof of my point right there.'


	5. Chapter 4

_So I've been planning everything out, and stuff is about to go down and sure enough I know when and how._  
_I have a lot of feelings about Thor and Loki, can you tell_

* * *

Loki watched Moriarty approach.  
That idiot mortal. Like he was about to share the power they would gain together. He deserved this, he would rule the world and everyone would kneel.  
And Moriarty? If Loki was feeling merciful, and Moriarty had been kind, than maybe he'd get a lower position in his kingdom. But no, Loki didn't feel like mercy at all.  
Actually, that kind of a man was very dangerous to keep around.  
Yes, he would allow him to help, but once this was all done, he would dispose of him.

Moriarty walked up to Loki.  
Oh just look at him. So innocent. Such a fool. He wasn't the villain of the story at all, however much he wanted to be.  
He wouldn't kill without a second thought. He would lie awake for nights after he was directly responsible for a murder.  
No, not a villain, the evil helper maybe, but nothing more than that.  
He was the villain. Sherlock was the boring, good guy and those people he had been recruited for were nothing more than ants. He would crush them.  
Besides, an evil helper turned against you very easily and he couldn't use that. He needed a poisoned apple to get Snow White to back down, and then Sebastian could kill him.  
Such a shame. The guy had spirit and a good amount of hatred. He appreciated that in a person.  
'You're late.'  
Moriarty sighed. Yes, a shame, but the only way.  
'Fashionably late. Is everything ready?'  
'Everything has been set in motion, if that is what you mean.'  
'Then now we just have to wait.'

'So this Loki, eh?'  
'What about him?'  
John shrugged. 'I've seen a lot of bad guys in my time, but I've never heard of him.'  
'Perhaps because he is not a mortal like yourself.' Thor sighed. 'It does not do him good to be dwelling in this realm. So much fighting, so much disaster.  
He gets worse. He was not always like this, you know.'  
John took a sip of the tea SHIELD had found for him somewhere . 'I don't suppose anyone is. Experiences make a person. Surroundings. Everyone changes all the time.'  
He grimaced. Tea was apparently not an Americans strongest point, or at least not that of SHIELD. 'You sound like you've known him for a long time.'  
'He was my brother. He isn't anymore, not really. He is not himself. He was adopted, and when he found out, he just snapped. I have never understood why.'  
'So what made him who he is now? What happened?'  
Thor shut his eyes. 'By the gods, I wish I knew. It is horrible to see him in such a state. I wish I could help him. He told me, when he was in Asgard for the last time,'  
He paused, struggeling with the memory. 'He told me that all he remembered was a shadow. That I never cared for him.  
And I will never be able to forget the pain in his eyes. Betrayed and hurt. He was crying while he was fighting me. I feel so guilty, because I know what he meant.  
I ignored him when he needed my help. I was young and arrogant. I did not see how he crawled back into the darkness, slowly rejecting more and more of my love for him.'  
Now tears shined in Thors eyes.  
John wanted to comfort him, but words didn't seem to come to him. How do you comfort a god? Who does a god pray to and who does he get his hope from?  
But before he could say anything, Thor continued.  
'You know, for every person my brother kills, I feel responsible. Because it is my fault, he said so. The guilt is becoming unbearable.'  
John put a hand on his arm. 'It's not your fault. You didn't see it, and others were probably just as bad for him. The acts of one person don't make a man.'  
'It _was_ your fault-' Sherlock interrupted.  
'Sherlock! Can't you see he's upset?'  
Thor sighed. 'No, he is right. It is I who should have been banished, not Loki. All these crimes are my fault, and I have to live with that.'  
Sherlock rose an annoyed eyebrow. 'No, that isn't what I said, let me finish. You are not the only one to blame.  
I studied the myths- that are, apparently, not actually myths. Your father was just as bad, always pressuring you into becoming the best king Asgard could have, even though he knew Loki could never be the king, because he was a Frostgiant. Your friends were bad too, excluding it.  
And a lot of it he told himself. A shadow talked him into believing everything around him was hostile, and eventually he started to become that shadow.  
Of course, everyone has that in them, everyone can become bad with enough pressure.  
Anyway, that's not why I came to you. If you want, we can go see him, because we've found him. Actually, we probably should, because New York is being invaded by some kind of monsters- again.'  
'Monsters?'  
'Really John, monsters surprise you? We're dealing with gods, myths are true, Stark is acting like he knows us from myths too -no offense if you were trying to keep this some kind of strange secret, Stark, but it was really quite obvious- and still monsters surprise you?'  
John shrugged. 'If it's not too much trouble. Now let's call the rest in, and save the world. I'll be your soldier.'  
'Actually,' Tony interrupted him, 'We already have one of those.'  
'Then I'll be second in command.'


	6. Chapter 5

Well, a chapter nice in time for the iron man 3 trailer tomorrow (are you fangirling yet?). :D

* * *

**6**

'So… Aliens.' John stated matter-of-factly. He stared at the creatures flying in the sky.  
'You get used to it.' Steve said comforting.  
John looked to his side, where Sherlock wasn't taking his eyes of the things.  
John thought about the time they had encountered an imaginary hound on the moor, and Sherlocks reaction when he had seen it. It was probably time for him to be a doctor. 'You coping well?'  
'Why shouldn't I be?'  
'Oh I don't know, the last time you didn't believe the evidence of your own eyes-'  
'You're forgetting that I was right that time as well.'  
Tony interrupted them. 'Girls, now is not the time, they're coming towards us. Cap, got any nice strategies you want to share with us?'  
Steve hesitated. 'I guess it's like last time. We have to destroy the source.'  
Tony shrugged. 'The sky is clear of magical blue lights today, not sure what you're getting at here.'  
Steve sighed. 'I mean we should interrupt the signal that's directing the aliens.'  
Bruce gave him a surprised look. 'Looks like someone has been spending some time in the twenty-first century.'  
'The flat of the phone company over there.'  
Everyone took a break of alien-spotting to glance at Sherlock.  
'What, isn't it obvious?'  
John sighed. 'Please just stick to us being idiots that need to be told everything.'  
Sherlock breathed in and Steve saw a long monologue coming. 'We haven't got the time for this. Sherlock, you go do those things that solve everything, we'll cover for you.'  
He seemed to realise now that John was still there. 'John, you got any nice superpowers?'  
'No, but I do have a gun.'  
'Good. You do that. Let's go people.'  
One of the aliens came flying down. The first of the storm. John smiled in the face of the danger. This was exhilarating. Even better than fighting crime with Sherlock.

Moriarty looked down on the city, burning in chaos. People running around, screaming, fleeing, terror everywhere.  
Yes, he could get used to this. Perhaps later, he would take Britain, when Loki was out of the way and his army was so scared of that they obeyed only him.  
He scanned the streets. Yes, everything was going perfectly and nothing would stop him.  
Well, him. Them, he reluctantly admitted to himself. He'd needed Loki for this one, like he'd needed Irene Adler for another one.  
In some ways Loki was like her. Sherlock would be fascinated with him as well, what with him being a god and all. In a lot of obvious was he was also definitely not like her. He quickly disregarded the comparison.  
Ugh.  
Bored.  
Sherlock would be having all the fun down there while the only thing he was allowed to do was watch, it was just not fair.  
Well yes, he didn't like to get his hands dirty, but that was no reason he shouldn't be in the middle of it, annoying everyone.  
Ah, there was the pathetic little group that was intending to beat him. They weren't even really trying, it seemed. They kept talking, arguing, making plans, blah, blah, blah. But look!  
In the commotion, Sherlock ran away. Fleeing?  
No, the bastard would be too smug for that. So he was interrupting their plans.  
Interrupting.  
Interrupting the signal.  
The word echoed through the sky.  
'SHERLOCK!'

Sherlock smiled. Of course Moriarty would know. He was going to need someone to cover him directly while he was working.  
John wouldn't do this time. Perhaps the man with the arrows. Agent, Tony had called him.  
Strategically, this was his best bet.  
He got his phone out of his coat and texted John.

_I need the agent here. –SH  
_The reply took a matter of seconds, good old John.  
_Which one?  
There are more? –SH  
Don't be so ignorant, master detective. The one with the arrows or the woman that's good at kung-fu or something.  
Arrows. –SH_

He heard a soft thud behind him and smiled. 'That was nice and fast.'  
Clint lay an arrow on his bow. 'I try.'


	7. Chapter 6

Well, it's been a while, sorry. Mostly because of nanowrimo and school, and so it still isn't a very long chapter, but at least it's a chapter? :D  
So yeah, Sherlock was tracing the signal that was sending aliens into the street and that's basically it.

* * *

Sherlock closely examined the computers in the middle of the room.  
They radiated a white light that illuminated Clint, who wasn't taking his eyes of every entrance he could find.  
The computers quickly flashed through programming screens.  
Encouraged by a rattling keyboard, they were searching. Looking for the source, looking for anything that would help those who needed it.  
And since it was Sherlock manning the keyboard, it wasn't long before it found something.  
'It's coming from the computers,' he murmured. 'It isn't opening the dimensions, it's calling trough them. Now if we could just stop the call, then the stream of aliens might also stop.'  
'Sherlock!'  
Sherlock kept concentrating on his work, and didn't bother to look up.  
A twanging bow, some small thuds, then a bigger one.  
Footsteps.  
Sherlock sighed. 'Could you please keep my archer alive, I hired him.'  
He turned around. 'Oh, how exciting, I get to talk to the god.'  
Loki extended his arm and put the staff over the keyboard.  
'I don't think so, mortal. These things contain the key to our success. I don't know how they work, but I'm going to need you to back off.'  
Sherlock gave a soft push against the staff, and tried to continue typing.  
'You don't know how they work?' he scoffed. 'I was expecting someone better, but I guess you'll have to do. Computers are obvious, systematic.'  
Loki used the staff to push Sherlock away from the keyboard.  
Sherlock wavered on his chair and for a second he looked less like a swan and more like a helpless toddler.  
He quickly regained his elegance, and just seemed insulted to be threatened by the staff's end.  
'In that case, let me help you,' Loki insisted. 'Stop helping those idiots and think of me. We are a lot alike.'  
'Yes, I get that a lot, but it never seems to be true.'  
Loki smiled. 'Oh, but we are. We're both ice. Don't you see that nothing in your life makes sense? Your life follows pattern, a story almost. The metal man said so too, didn't he? You have no control over your life, and so you will join me.'  
'I'm not so sure. You are the one that follows stories,' Sherlock interrupted. 'I read stories of you when I was a child.'  
'So you're still not convinced. Fine then, I'll say it in a way that even you can understand. You and I both think that the rest of the world is an idiot.'  
Sherlock didn't get a chance to respond.  
The doors opened, and footsteps followed.  
'Brother, don't do this.'


	8. Chapter 7

Fights planned next chapter. This chapter only contains hugs. Sort of.  
(in other news: oh god why does two pages of words look like so little here it hurts my efforts okay)

* * *

Sherlock sighed. 'Oh lovely, another god.'

Loki didn't react to Thor at first. He kept his scepter over the keyboard, and focused on Sherlock. It didn't last long though, the temptation was too big.  
'So you decided to pay me a visit, Thor?' Loki hissed. 'Good of you to do that now. You did not feel like it when you abandoned me to that realm a few years ago, but no hard feelings.'  
Thor didn't seem to find that nearly as amusing as Sherlock did.  
'Do not put yourself through this again. We shall fight you, and this companion you seem to have acquired-'  
'Yes, Moriarty, at least this man helped me escape from the horrors you put me through when you caught me last time.' Loki smiled to himself. 'Quite good, for a mortal. Not that he'll be around for long, but he helped.'  
Sherlock scoffed. 'You wouldn't have figured it out without him, I'm sure.'  
He was still typing. The gods didn't seem to notice and he really didn't feel the need to tell them.  
'Look, it's been great having you around, but if you could both just solve those problems you seem to have with each other, that would be a lot shorter, and it would stop a lot of… aliens from dying.'  
'Problems?' Loki seemed insulted. He seemed on the verge of a long monologue about his youth, but Sherlock stopped him before he had even begun.  
'Yes, problems. Obviously there's some unsolved things between you, things about your youth, that made you become this way, soppy things.' Sherlock sighed. 'And I'm not saying this because I want you two to become friends, it would just really make things easier.'  
They still didn't seem to notice him typing.  
'I understand now, that is what I wanted to tell you.' Said Thor. 'I see now. The shadow you talked about.'  
'No, you don't!' shouted Loki. 'You don't know what it was like, discovering that I was a monster. I had always felt it, in the way they treated me, and I never understood. I always felt like there was something wrong with me, but I could ignore it. In that moment, I knew they were right. I am a monster. All I had ever wanted was to be their equal, and now I saw that that was wrong. I can never be your equal, and I should remain where I belong. In the shadows.'  
'I'm sorry.' Thor said softly. 'I truly am. I never said I was sorry, when I hurt you. But trust me, I know that beneath all the years of pain and hurt, there is the potential to become a better man. I know you, brother, I know you can do it.'  
'And would you stop calling me brother,' Loki's arguments were weakening, but he didn't feel like he could forgive his brother for all those years. 'We're not brothers. We have discussed this.'  
'We may not be brothers in blood, but we are brothers in bond.'  
Loki scoffed. Fine, fine, but it wasn't enough.  
'What do you want me to do?' Thor's voice was turning louder. 'You keep telling me that I've done everything wrong, and that feels just as bad. I didn't know, and I didn't mean to do what I did. Ever since I found out, I've been blaming myself.'  
'Good, you should be.'  
'No, I shouldn't!' snapped Thor. 'Don't you see? It wasn't all my fault, and however much I love you, I will not take all the blame. It was father too, it was everything. I tried to protect you, you just didn't see me.'  
'I have a brother too, you know.' Remarked Sherlock, who felt there was some counselling to be done for the good of the earth.  
'That's lovely, ice man, now would you just stay out of this?'  
'No, let him talk, Loki. I have found him to be a wise man, sometimes.'  
Sherlock tried not to take too much offense at the word "sometimes". He should probably take that one for the team, the team being team earth.  
'We never really got along. A lot of arguing happened. But we're both adults now, and we look after each other. I do a few jobs for him, he does a for me. It balances out enough to stop caring about the bad things that happened. He's always kept an eye on me, too. He checks people I meet, gives me a case when he knows I need one.'  
He cleared his throat. He wasn't ice, not really. He just didn't show his soft side much. Loki telling him he had no control over his life seemed to have had enough effect on him to get him talking about Mycroft, which didn't happen often.  
'What I'm trying to say is, that's what seemed to have happened to you, and you should do something about it. It doesn't really work out for the earth and everything.'  
This was really a lot of emotional stuff, what was happening, these were things that John would have said.  
Sherlock smiled. Yes, maybe it _was_ John. He had been a good influence on him like each member of the avengers were for the others.  
Loki nodded at Thor. 'Perhaps we can. We can postpone this argument until later.'  
Thor grinned. 'I know that you will not give me anything better than that, so you do not know how happy it makes me to hear you say that.'  
He walked up to his brother and wrapped his arms around him in a hug. Loki uncomfortably crawled out of his arms. 'Also hugging. Hugging can be postponed.'  
Thor turned to Sherlock. 'Now we can solve the things he has put on this world.'  
Sherlock shrugged and pressed a key on the keyboard. 'Not to cause any more hugging than necessary, but I shut the portal while you to were… talking.'  
He gave them one of the smiles he reserved for humans who were stupid and needed that kind of encouragement. 'So if the lovely brother here could just give me my gun back, then we'll solve the rest.'  
Loki looked the gun that had fallen off of the desk during his struggle with Sherlock earlier. He didn't trust human weapons much.  
He awkwardly shoved it at Sherlock with his scepter.


	9. Chapter 8

Yeah, it's a longer one!  
This chapter has two soldiers and people hitting other people. Sometimes.

* * *

****John was a bit too preoccupied to notice them coming back.  
It hadn't been so bad at first. Sure, he hadn't really known what to do, since he'd never fought aliens before, but at least there weren't very much of them. And yeah, Sherlock probably wouldn't be long. It would all be fine.  
Slowly but surely the steady stream of aliens became thicker. The heroes around him didn't become tired as soon as John did.  
Still, this even seemed hard for them. John didn't know if this was a regular day for them, but if it was, it was taking longer than they were used to.  
At first they had formed a bit of a strategy, and John was able to use his gun the way it was supposed to work. Then the aliens had kept coming, more and more. It seemed like there was no end to the stream of monsters coming for them.  
His gun was empty, and he'd started using it as a sort of club, but they had arrows.  
And that was how he'd come to be lying here, on the asphalt of an unoccupied road.  
Not that any of the roads would be occupied now, he told himself, trying to find some distraction. But this road in particular didn't have as much aliens, because Steve, who had apparently taken a liking to him, was standing in it and defeating every alien that came his way.  
You'd think it would help that he was a doctor, but if he was honest, he hadn't come across a lot of people with an arrow in their upper leg.  
As a soldier, or generally as a person, he wasn't used to it either.  
Oh, he'd seen movies where the hero bravely kept fighting even though he was being pierced with twenty arrows, as if they didn't even notice.  
Well, maybe he wasn't a hero, or maybe it was just because he didn't get pierced by arrows on a daily basis, but it bloody well hurt a lot and he was really starting to doubt if he could even stand, never mind fight.  
He'd carefully removed the arrow, torn a piece of cloth from his jacket (which bloody well wasn't as easy as it looked either) and used it as a sort of bandage, but my God did it hurt.  
It had seemed like the right thing to do, but he was pretty sure that it hurt less with the arrow in it. Maybe he'd just made it worse or something.  
So anyway, there he was, lying in the middle of the road, flanked by buildings, clutching his leg. He was staring in the distance, for a bit to check if there were any aliens coming, but mostly to distract himself.  
And that was when he noticed.  
'There's less aliens.' He stared intently at the stream of aliens in the distance, which wasn't as steady as it used to be. He nodded. 'Yes, I'm fairly sure there's less of them.'  
Steve turned around to look at him. 'I think you're right. Wanna try to have a look?'  
John knew what he meant, he should try to get up, then he would see it better. He tried to get up, but it wasn't much use.  
Steve held out his hand. John grabbed it, and slowly but surely, with a bit of support from the wall, he got up.  
He looked at the streets for a while and smiled. Yeah, he had been right, there were less of them.  
Wait.  
Something else, about a block away. Someone else. Multiple someone elses.  
'Is that… Sherlock? Who's he got with him?'  
Steve squinted his eyes. 'I think you're right. Clint is there, and apparently Thor came to help him out too.'  
Consciously or not, he grabbed onto his shield a bit tighter. 'And I think that's Loki. What's Loki doing with them?'  
John hadn't seen Loki before, but he assumed he was the only person in the group he didn't recognize. The one with the blackish cape.  
Looked like a villain alright. So why weren't they fighting? He didn't know much about the whole world-saving business, but he was pretty sure you weren't supposed to befriend the villain.  
Then again, you probably weren't supposed to get an arrow in your leg either. No one else had gotten an arrow in his leg, that was just him.  
He got his gun out. His finger slipped around the trigger. Even though he knew it wouldn't do much without bullets, it still made him feel a bit safer.  
'What do we do? They bloody look like they're best friends.' snapped John.  
Steve slowly began to move out of the alley. 'Well, I've seen that before. Loki has this staff that allows him to bend others to his will. That's probably what happened.'  
John hopped after him, putting as little weight on his leg as possible. 'Okay, we could ambush them. We don't really have any weapons, but I'm sure we'll manage if we surprise them.'  
Yeah, he didn't really believe himself either.  
Steve nodded, and ran onto the road. He hid behind walls and rubble on his way to Loki.  
John stumbled to the edge of the wall he was leaning against, and then realised that he couldn't get any further.  
'Steve!' he said urgently, trying to sound as loud as he could without alarming the enemy. Of course Steve couldn't hear him, he was way too far away.  
_Oh, for God's sake!_

'They should be here somewhere. I'm pretty sure they were about here when I left them.' Clint said.  
Thor shrugged. 'We will find them.'  
He stared into the sky for a bit. 'Not that many aliens anymore.'  
Loki pushed one out of the way, changed his mind, and killed him. 'He would tell Moriarty.' he murmured to himself. He didn't like it when he got his hands dirty, but they would be a lot dirtier when Moriarty found out.  
Oh well, he was planning to kill him anyway, it didn't matter if it was a few hours earlier.  
'For America!'  
No one saw who had shouted it, but it wasn't very hard to work out.  
Steve jumped Loki, and elbowed him in the head. 'You let these people go, you hear me?' he commanded.  
'Sure. They attacked your monsters, but maybe you shouldn't have sent them in the first place!' Every few words were punctuated with another bash on and/or around his head.  
'Oh don't be an idiot.' Sherlock sighed. 'Get off the man, we convinced him.'  
Loki awkwardly poked Steve with the back of his staff, but he wouldn't budge.  
'You would say that, he's tricked you!'  
'No, I told you to not be an idiot. We're obviously fine, stop attacking him.'  
Even though the words didn't really help, no one felt compelled to help Loki. He had been trying to kill them after all.  
It was like standing around a burglary while whispering stop it. No one really cared.  
Clint shuddered. 'Trust me Steve, I would know.'  
He socked Loki in the jaw. 'I wouldn't do this if he'd tricked me.'  
Yeah, there's to revenge.  
'Yes, yes, we get it!' shouted Loki urgently.  
Steve slowly got off his back. He still held on to his shield though, you never knew with tricksters. Not that he'd encountered a lot of them.  
'So you convinced him?'  
'Yes!' Thor said happily. 'He's going to help us.'  
'Until something better comes along.' Loki carefully touched his jaw. 'We were losing anyway.'


End file.
